Lyon bottle gives Benzema courage

Goalscorer Karim Benzema paid tribute to Olympique Lyonnais' "strength of character" after the French champions twice came from behind to win 5-3 at FC Steaua Bucureşti in UEFA Champions League Group F.

'Real fightback'
Benzema registered twice as Lyon earned a memorable victory having been 2-0 down after eleven minutes and 3-2 behind at half-time. "We didn't make a good start, conceding two goals straight away," the French international striker said, "but we showed our strength of character and that we had the resources needed to take all three points back to Lyon. It was a real fightback."

Scoring flurry
Kader Keita was the first to strike for Lyon, with Benzema scoring his first before the interval, and finding the net again in-between two efforts from substitute Fred to help put Lyon in a strong position with half of the six group games played. FC Bayern München are top with seven points after a 3-0 win over ACF Fiorentina, Lyon have five points, the Italians two and Steaua one.

Time to attack
It could have ended very differently, though, had Benzema not urged Lyon to push forward rather than sit back and try to weather the storm. "We just started to play, something we hadn't done when the game began," he explained. "We knew how to respond. We didn't just give up. Holding back would have been the wrong thing to do and I told the players to attack."

Defensive lapses
Benzema was reluctant to dwell on the defensive lapses that could easily have consigned the Ligue 1 leaders to defeat, pointing instead to their improved chances of reaching the knockout stages. "We let in three goals, we weren't paying enough attention, but we've come away with the three points and that's the important thing," he said.

Better prospects
Looking ahead to their Matchday 4 date with Steaua at Stade de Gerland on 5 November, the 20-year-old said: "Today was a big step. We've got five points, we've got our next game at home, and we've got everything we need to go on to qualify if we manage it properly." Although Benzema did concede Lyon may want to focus on their defensive set-up after Steaua scored twice from corners,  saying: "It's up to us to work on that, to stop conceding, because in attacking terms we know we're capable turning any match our way."